Doctor Meyers
Read by Christian
Photo by Christian







Smart, venerable, and admired are all characteristics that Doctor Meyers possesses. In Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, he is portrayed as a prestigious man. Edgar Lee Master shows us that Even though your life may be immaculate know, it doesn't mean that it will never change.
Doctor Meyers was a prestigious, confident, and well respected man. “No other man /did more for the people in [the] town than [him]” (line1-2). He would always help the people at Spoon River, for they were like family to him. He was a well trusted man because he cured and helped people. “Those who could not pay flocked to [him]” (line 4). He knew all the people in the town and he had built bonds between them and this helped his business grow.“[He] was good-hearted, easy Doctor Meyers.” (line 5) and had no worries what so ever. He took his fortune, his life and his peace for granted and never truly enjoyed life.
Minerva Jones changed Doctor Meyers life forever. “Minerva/came to [him] in her trouble crying.”(line10-11) She was crying because she was in the mist of giving birth, in labor, when she knocked on his door. He tried to help her and give her what she wanted, what she begged for. “ He had broken the law human and Divine” (“Mrs. Meyers”line 7) for Minerva but the outcome had a serious consequence. Minerva died when Doctor Meyers tried to give her an abortion, the news spread through the town. His life would change rapidly and he would never experience his old luxurious life again.
Citizens of the town judged him and blamed him of an act he did not commit. “They indicted [him], the newspapers disgraced [him]“(line 12). The town were spreading rumors and judging him. He was in a horrible stage in life and he did not know what to do. “He was not at fault for Minerva’s fall,/ But only tried to help her.”(“Mrs. Meyers,” lines 3-4). His wife tried to defend him and they both tried to erase the incident but the town refused to let it go. His life was coming to an end, things were going bad. “[His] wife perished of a broken heart”(line 13). She died in vain and never got what she wanted, her old life. By this point his life was at its finish and he died with a harsh life, one he did not deserve.
Just because life is at its peek and everything is great, it does not mean it will not end in a heart-beat. Doctor Meyers had an extravagant life that he took for granted, and it was taken away from him. The mural to Edgar Lee Masters poem is to live life at its fullest and enjoy every second of it because you never know when you are going to lose it.




Masters, Eadgar Lee. “Doctor Meyers” The Spoon River Anthology. New York;Macmillan,1946.1-14.

Masters, Eadgar Lee. “Mrs. Meyers” The Spoon River Anthology. New York;Macmillan,1946.1-14.